So, I drove up to the Suns’ preseason game at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this weekend – the first modern NBA outdoor game. It was a Suns home game, so the Ced Ceballos, the Gorilla, the Suns dance team and the Adio Sol Patrol were out in full force. Suns fans were spread across the arena with very few Nuggets fans dotted in. (The Nuggets fans I saw all seemed to be fairly happy about their team’s win. Congrats.)
The offense was stagnant. There were times when the team would push the ball, mostly after a defensive stop. There were probably less than five times the team ran. Which is no necessarily a bad thing, as long as the halfcourt offense is strong. But its not right now. Far from it. Instead of scoring in seven seconds or less, it would sometime take that long to swing the ball around the perimeter. At the beginning of the game especially, there was an effort to get the ball into the post. I’m not sure the Suns scored on any of these plays. I do remember Shaq throwing the ball away trying to deliver the ball to a cutter. The offense looked a lot like something you might see in a high school game. The base set is very spread out, with four players on the perimeter, who then cut through the lane. Several screens are set, including a double screen to free up a corner three for a wing player. Generally, it seemed pretty one dimensional. No drives baseline. No drives into the paint. Not many pick and rolls, but that’s a lot harder without Amare.
What made the Suns’ offense special wasn’t pushing the ball after every made basket. Any team with speed can do that, and many have tried unsuccessfully. The key was Nash. (I’m already referring to D’Antoni’s offense as dead.) Any point guard can push the ball up the court with success. It was his impact on the half court game that was unique, though most have criticized the Suns “slow-down” game in the past.
It’s not a horrible thing that Nash is being restrained. The time is fast approaching when he will no longer be with the Suns. The Suns need to prepare for that day, hopefully without sacrificing winning now. If Porter can instill a more structured offense, it may help some of the younger players who will have to adjust to the post-Nash era in a few years.
Nash’s heir apparent played about as well as I expected him too. He was a bit timid with the ball, but I believe Dahntay Jones and Anthony Carter were pressuring him most of the game, and they’re both pretty pesky. After seeing him play, I can say that he does a pretty good job of staying in front of his man, and he’ll hustle. His shot doesn’t look too bad mechanically, but it doesn’t go in very often. He had a few nice plays where he penetrated and found an open man. The year will be a learning process with him, so anyone who expects him to play like the #2 point guard in the draft or someone earning as much as a lottery pick will be disappointed. He won’t be any worse than Marcus Banks, so that’s a plus. Over the next few years he should develop into a solid starting point guard.
The one good thing on offense is that we have energetic post players. Robin Lopez and Louis Amundson crashed the boards frequently, though it doesn’t show up in RoLo’s rebounding stats.
Defensively, it would seem that the Suns have made great strides since the last few seasons, but I’m not sure that’s true. Sure, the points allowed stat may have gone down, but when has a Suns fan ever taken much stock in that deceptive stat. If my math is correct, and it always is, through the first three preseason games (one of the best indicators of post-season success), the Suns have allowed a 42% opponent FG%. Which is only about a 3% drop from their average over the past four years. First, let me say that those 3% points are the difference between an average defensive team and a team that is lauded for their defense. The kind of defense that wins champioships. That said, two of the team’s three worst defenders haven’t been playing. Their best defensive efforts thus far have come against teams missing Carlos Boozer, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson. So no, I’m not ready to say the Suns will be a top 7 team on defense this season.
The Suns did swarm the ball well whenever it came into the paint. The help defense looked like it had only rarely during Dantoni’s reign. The man-to-man defense looked essentially the same. Nash was slightly better in forcing his man to help. Robin Lopez did a solid job defending his man in the post, though I wouldn’t call him a defensive “stopper” by any mean, at least not the way Kurt Thomas was. But man defense really wasn’t the problem. With Bell, Marion and Kurt Thomas on the floor, the Suns had three superior defenders. That’s pretty good. Look at the Spurs. Bruce Bowen is a fantastic defender. Tim Duncan is solid. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and whoever else are solid, but not spectacular. Their team defense concept was beter than the Suns’. I know Nash and Stoudemire’s individual defensive liabilities played a major role in this as well, but it’s not as if Parker was able to stop Nash or and Spur was able to contain Amare during the playoffs. The biggest difference is in the defensive schemes, where the Spurs were worlds better than the Suns.
